Gambhir's marathon stand secures draw

A heroic stand of 137 in nearly 11 hours at the crease by Gautam Gambhir ensured the second Test between India and New Zealand ended in a draw on the final day Monday.

When Gambhir's match-saving, marathon performance came to an end he had batted through three days' play and rescued his side from a perilous situation.

After New Zealand made 619-9 declared, India were in strife when they were rolled for 305 in their first innings and lost their first second innings wicket at 30 when asked to follow on.

But Gambhir, in his 24th Test, was unfazed by the carnage and set about a rescue mission that lasted 642 minutes and ended with India all but safe.

It was left to VVS Laxman on 124, the 14th century of his Test career, and Yuvraj Singh on 54 to bat out the last two hours and get India across the line with their 1-0 series lead intact.

New Zealand, whipped by 10 wickets in the first Test, have one chance left to salvage a draw from the three-Test series when the final match starts in Wellington on Friday.

The second Test was played on an extremely placid wicket with the bowling damage concentrated in one 26-over burst on the third day when New Zealand ripped out six wickets for just 58 runs.

With conditions against the bowlers, the five days of cricket produced 1,400 runs including a double century, four centuries and seven half-centuries.

Jesse Ryder's 201 for New Zealand was the man-of-the-match feat, but Gambhir's second innings response for India, when he came in on Saturday and departed on Monday, was the most exemplary.

That he scored 64 fewer runs than Ryder mattered little to India. Of more importance was that he soaked up 153 more minutes of playing time than the New Zealander.

His dogged fifth Test century was the seventh longest stand by an Indian, though it was also the lowest score among the top 30 innings of endurance by Indian batsmen.

After resuming the final day at 252-2, India only added 145 runs in the first two sessions as survival remained their priority over runs.

Laxman and Yuvraj opened up in the final session when the result was beyond doubt and the umpires called an end to the game 70 minutes early .

Gambhir increased his overnight score by just 35 in three hours before his near chanceless innings was undone by Jeetan Patel with a ball that straightened and hit the pads plumb in front of the wicket.

It came 12 runs after he survived the one true chance in his 436-ball innings when Iain O'Brien dropped a straight forward catch off Vettori at mid-on.

After India's rescue mission began shakily with the early dismissal of stand-in captain Virender Sehwag, Gautam shared in partnerships of 133 with Rahul Dravid, 97 with Sachin Tendulkar and 96 with Laxman.

New Zealand removed Indian talisman Tendulkar early on the final day when he was caught behind for 64 after being teased by a succession of deliveries well wide of off-stump by Chris Martin.

Tendulkar drove the fourth Martin ball to the boundary and resisted the temptation to strike again until the fifth over when he stretched out to drive and the ball edged through to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

Patel was the most successful of the New Zealand bowlers with two for 120 while Martin and Daniel Vettori have a wicket apiece.